EP0131881B1 - Rotational flexible coupling with torque variations damping - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a torsionally flexible, vibration-damping shaft coupling according to the preamble of claim 1.

Such a shaft coupling is known from DE-A-3148338. Couplings are known (for example according to DE-A-24 44 787 and DE-B-30 33 302) in which ° are arranged between a primary and a secondary part radially directed leaf spring assemblies clamped by intermediate pieces, between which there are for the purpose of damping Oil-filled chambers are located, the oil being pressed from one chamber to another when loaded.

According to US-A-25 13 379, an embodiment is known in which helical springs are arranged which are tangential in the circumferential direction to the axis of rotation and are partially surrounded by sleeves which can be pushed into one another like a pot and through whose openings the damping oil flows. All of these constructions allow only small angular deflections and are very complicated to set up.

DE-A-32 28 673 A-1 discloses a torsional vibration damper intended for use in vehicle friction clutches, in which the torque is transmitted from the shaft-shaped primary part to the approximately drum-like secondary part carried by it via an annular coupling body arranged therein, which engages with a thrust device (trapezoidal thread) allowing longitudinal displacements and is slidably connected to the periphery of the secondary part by means of axial toothing, with a plate spring on each side of the coupling body, which is supported on the wall of the secondary part.

This type of arrangement and the way in which the springs are acted upon allows larger angular deflections between the primary and secondary parts than in the couplings mentioned at the beginning; however, one is limited by the smallest possible pitch of the thread, the self-locking limit of which must not be reached.

With such a design, only one disc spring is in action in each direction of rotation, while the other remains uninvolved. This must be viewed as poor utilization of the existing spring volume, which has a major impact on the usefulness of the clutch. The alternating loading of the springs when the direction of rotation is reversed also requires a considerable preload of the springs, which must be greater than the operating load, which places further limits on the range of effective rotation. As a result of the immediate proximity of the coupling body to the disc springs, damping oil contaminated by abrasion can reach the thread, which must lead to premature wear of the displacement device and thus to a shortening of the service life. Basically, coupling members, the inclined surfaces of which are tangent to the axis of rotation, as in the case of the aforementioned DE-B-32 28 673 A1, are also subject to a torsional backlash which cannot be eliminated, by which speed shocks are generated when the torque is reversed, which have a very harmful influence on the coupling and exercise the connected machines.

From the aforementioned DE-A-31 48 338, a shaft coupling in the manner of a torsional vibration absorption device is known, in which an oil-loaded housing is provided with a multi-plate friction clutch, the plates of which are acted upon by a plate spring pair and axially on the other side abuts a coupling ring which is guided axially in a toothing of the housing and bears on the primary part of the coupling with axially projecting teeth with oblique flanks which engage in corresponding, curved recesses on the end face of the primary part. By rotating the two coupling parts against each other, the coupling ring is therefore moved axially and presses on the multi-plate clutch, which thus acts as an attenuator for torsional vibrations. Since only one pair of disc springs is arranged concentrically to the output shaft in this type of construction, only a relatively small torsional force can be transmitted with such a design if the space requirement of the damping device is not to be too great.

The object of the invention is to create a shaft coupling of this type which has a high specific transmission capacity and is therefore space-saving, the transmission mechanism which converts the tangential movement of the primary part into an axial movement and from there again into a tangential movement of the secondary part is as abrasion-free as possible and fully utilizes the entire spring volume regardless of the direction of the torque.

To solve this problem, the characterizing features of claim 1 are provided in a shaft coupling of the type mentioned. With this configuration, a shaft coupling with a small number of individual parts is achieved, which accommodates packets of spring elements, in particular disk springs, which are guided on the inside on bolts in a space-saving manner. This coupling is also very narrow in that the hub extends completely into the housing.

The arrangement of the support disc ensures that all spring assemblies act evenly and the abrasion remains low. The support disk is expediently designed as an axial bearing.

A particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention consists in that two clutch disks are arranged between the primary part and the secondary part, which are provided with the projections on the mutually facing sides, packages of disc springs being arranged on both sides of the pair of disks. The fact that more springs are available here for rotation, ie on two sides of the clutch discs, results in a correspondingly larger angle of rotation. In general, the wreath-like projections can more after outer diameter or more according to the inner diameter of the clutch discs, depending on whether the design is based on a higher torque to be transmitted and less rotation or a larger rotation at a lower torque. Particularly balanced ratios result if, according to the invention, these are arranged approximately in the middle between the outer and inner diameters of the clutch disks.

Various requirements can be placed on the damping behavior of highly torsionally flexible couplings with fluid damping, depending on applications and operating conditions.

So there may be a requirement that the fluid damping should increase with increasing torque, and / or at zero crossing, i.e. with low torque, greater damping is desired. Furthermore, in systems with difficult vibrations, there is also the desire to change the damping subsequently. In known couplings, the latter is only possible by replacing components with modified throttle openings or gaps.

An advantageous development of the invention provides a device by means of which an optionally finely controllable damping is made possible over the entire torque curve, the damping characteristics being changed either automatically or / and from the outside. This is achieved in that the support disk is provided on the outer circumference and possibly also on the inner circumference with seals and divides the housing into two chambers, a throttle opening being provided between the chambers near the axis of rotation. At the flow opening between the chambers, a tubular control part provided with a radial seal at the outer end can be provided, which cooperates with corresponding axially directed channels in the primary or secondary part, which channels are provided with a plurality of throttle openings lying one behind the other on axially parallel planes and leading into the coupling interior are which are swept by the radial seal during the working stroke, with at least one throttle opening from the front of the clutch or the like with a regulating screw. its cross section is changeable.

In order to be able to influence the damping from the outside, an advantageous embodiment consists in that at least one throttle opening can be changed in cross-section from the front side of the coupling with a regulating screw. The regulating screw can also be designed as an automatically operating, pressure-dependent valve, which can be adjusted from the outside.

Another favorable embodiment of the invention, by means of which the damping characteristic can also be changed, is that the radial seal is only effective in partial areas of the working stroke. Depending on the design of the coupling, a flow opening between the chambers, e.g. the clutch teeth between the clutch disc and the primary part serve, the control part being arranged on the clutch disc.

Another favorable embodiment consists in that as a flow opening between the chambers there are bores in the support disk and in the adjacent clutch disk in the region of the bolts on which the spring elements are held, with a control part being arranged in each bore of the support disk.

Torsionally flexible couplings, the mode of operation of which is based on the fact that a circumferential force is converted into an axial force under load and from there back into a circumferential force, the disadvantage, provided that the associated axial displacement takes place via coupling connections subject to friction, is that the coefficients of friction can be subject to fluctuations that occur under depend, among other things, on the specific load on the material pairing, the lubricant supply and the speed of the escort. If clutches of the type according to the invention are to respond sensitively even at high frequencies, then under certain conditions sticking back can occur which interferes with the uniform development of the force.

It is therefore advantageous to completely avoid sliding friction and to replace the toothing on the clutch disc by a ball and roller connection, with the complex control of the balls, as is customary in known designs of constant velocity joints, being dispensed with. It can be assumed that the secondary part with its axial projections is spatially fixed, while the clutch disc moves axially under the effect of the torque. If rolling elements, which are guided in a cage, are arranged between the axial recesses of the clutch disc and the secondary part, this cage inevitably adjusts to half the axial path of the clutch disc under load, i.e. in the same axial path as the balls of the coupling connection.

In a further embodiment of the invention it is therefore provided to use the movement sequence of the positively guided outer cage by the cage of the ball rolling connection via bolts or the like. is connected to the outer cage of the rolling element, so that both cages move axially together and the different tangential paths are compensated for by longitudinal slots on the inner cage.

Various exemplary embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the drawings and are explained in the following description. Show it:

• 1 is a longitudinal section of a clutch with spring assemblies on one side, with a support disk and with a double-jointed clutch on the hub,
• 2 shows a clutch with two clutch disks and spring assemblies on both sides and rolling elements in longitudinal section,
• 3 shows the cross section A-B through the coupling according to FIG. 2,
• 4a to d developments of the ring-shaped projections in various embodiments,
• 5 shows the detail _" B .. of Fig. 1,
• 6 shows a detail of the design of a variant of FIG. 1,
• 7 shows another embodiment of the detail of the variant of FIG. 1,
• 8 shows a further detail of the variant of FIG. 1,
• Fig. 9 shows a detail of another variant of Fig. 1 and
• 10 shows the section C-D through FIG. 9.

In Fig. 1 designated (1) the primary part, which is connected to the housing (2), which is closed by the cover (3). The secondary part (5) is held on the cover (3). The secondary part (5) is provided with a flange (5a) for connection to the machine to be driven or also driven. Between the primary part (1) and the secondary part (5), a concentric, ring-like clutch disc (14) is arranged next to the wall of the latter.

When a torque is introduced into the primary part (1), the clutch disc (14) is taken along and through the projections (9) also the secondary part (5). At the same time, the projections slide, the side surfaces (9a) (see Fig. 4a to 4d) an inclination of e.g. Have 20 ° to 40 °, in the circumferential direction on each other, the axial component of the sliding force exerting pressure on the clutch disc (14) and via this on the spring element (8) assembled to form a spring assembly, which are designed as disc springs. With increasing torque, this can take place until, depending on the design of the coupling, the projections (9) either slip, i.e. the coupling works as overload protection for the connected machine, or stops are provided for limiting the spring travel, when reached the coupling then acts in a torsionally rigid manner, i.e. the clutch is protected. The latter is provided in Fig. 1 in that recesses (11) of a support disc (15) to be described are adjusted in depth to the permissible suspension path.

The angle of rotation of the coupling is greater, the lower the inclination of the side surfaces (9a) and the longer this, i.e. the higher the projections (9). With appropriate coordination of the inclination and length of these side surfaces and the characteristics of the spring assemblies, the couplings can be used with very different properties, e.g. B. hard or soft, create. With a slope of 10! are, if the sprockets are conveniently about half the diameter of the clutch disc (14), to achieve angles of rotation of up to 30 °. It is advantageous that the clutch works in the same way in both directions of rotation, with all spring assemblies being acted on simultaneously. The toothing is completely free of play and self-adjusting. It is also insensitive to fretting. There is also the fact that it lies outside the area of the disc springs, where wear may occur. The tension of the spring elements (8) can be regulated by adjusting screws, which is necessary in the event of the springs settling, but is also desirable for changing the characteristics. In addition, the characteristics of the clutch can also be regulated per se by changing the spring elements assembled to form spring assemblies, with stronger or weaker disc springs or combinations of the two being used.

In Fig. 1, a support disc (15) is arranged between the clutch disc (14) and the spring elements (8), which covers all spring assemblies and by pins (16) which engage in the bolts (10) relative to the secondary part (5) is fixed against rotation. The support disc is provided with recesses (17) which serve as stops for the suspension travel. The support disk (15) carries seals (12 and 18) on the inside and outside, which divide the coupling into two oil spaces, the toothing (6) acting as a throttle. On the other hand, the support disc (15) is designed as an axial bearing for the clutch disc (14), whereby the friction to which the clutch disc (14) is exposed by the springs is considerably reduced. The primary part (1) is connected to the hub (19) of the input and output shafts by means of a double-jointed coupling, which enables compensation of shaft misalignment in the radial and axial directions without the use of other means. For better cooling, the housing (2) and the cover (3) of the secondary part (5) are provided with cooling fins (17). To achieve a twofold twist, it may be possible to connect two couplings of the type shown in FIG. 1 with the secondary parts (5).

2 and 3, two concentrically, ring-shaped coupling disks (20 and 21) are arranged between the primary part (1) and the housing shell (2) of the secondary part (5) axially next to one another, of which the disc (20) inside by a Teeth (6) are non-rotatably and axially displaceably connected to the primary part (1) and the disk (21) is non-rotatably and axially displaceably connected to the housing jacket (2) by means of a toothing (22). On the sides facing each other, the clutch disks (20 and 21) are provided approximately in the middle between the outer and inner diameter, each with a ring of axially extending projections (9) with oblique side surfaces (9a), between which frustoconical roller bodies (25 ) are located, which are held by axes (26) in a cage (27). At two diametrically opposite points (see FIG. 3) of the rings, a toothing (28) is arranged, into which two guide gears (29) arranged in the cage (27) engage. The use of rolling elements on the side surfaces of the projections reduces the friction between the clutch discs (20, 21). Ne on both sides ben of the clutch discs (20 and 21) packages of spring elements (8) designed as disc springs are arranged, which are held by bolts (10). Between the clutch disc (20) and the spring elements (8) on the right side, as in FIG. 1, a support disc (15) is connected, which is designed as an axial bearing. It is provided with a seal (12) on the outer circumference. You and the clutch disc (21) are again provided with stops (11) to limit the rotation. When torque is applied, the spring elements (8) are acted upon on both sides at the same time, in both torque directions. This embodiment enables a larger angle of rotation than that of FIG. 1.

The coupling is provided with a circulation of damping fluid in a special way. For this purpose, the support disc (15) is provided with a throttle opening (30) below the center of the axis. The support disc (15) forms a space on the left (high-pressure space) and a space (low-pressure space) on the right of the support disc. With a corresponding oil filling, a pressure builds up in the HP space due to the pumping movement of the disks (20, 21), which causes the oil to pass through the throttle opening (30) into the LP space, from where the oil passes through the central opening ( 23) emerges and from where it is fed back through a line (not shown) to the opening (24) of the high-pressure chamber, the oil bypassing being carried out by means of an external pump and an intermediate oil tank, which is particularly necessary for couplings for large drive powers that can get very hot.

• a) zeigt Vorsprünge (9) mit Seitenflächen (9a) mit gleichem Neigungswinkel auf der Vorder- und Rückseite (Winkel ca. 20°),
• b) zeigt Vorsprünge (9) mit Seitenflächen (9a und 9b) von unterschiedlichem Neigungswinkel (Winkel 20°/45°) auf der Vorder- und Rückseite, wodurch die Kupplung in der einen Drehrichtung eine weichere und in der anderen eine härtere Charakteristik erhält,
• c) zeigt ein Profil wie in a), jedoch mit Rollkörpern (25) zwischen den Kränzen, die durch Achsen (26) in einem Käfig (27) gehalten sind. Hierdurch wird die Reibung zwischen den Verzahnungen herabgesetzt,
• d) zeigt im oberen Kranz ein Profil mit Seitenflächen (9a) von 20°, die nach der Spitze hin stärker (auf 45°) ansteigen, (9c) wodurch sich bei steigender Belastung eine progressive Charakteristik der Kupplung ergibt. Im unteren Kranz sind die Rollkörper (25) in Mulden gehalten. Es besteht auch die Möglichkeit, bei der Ausführung nach c) die Seitenflächen (9a) mit Verzahnungen zu versehen, an denen die ebenfalls mit Verzahnungen versehenen Rollkörper abrollen können.

4a to d show different embodiments of the ring-like projections in cross section in the load position:

• a) shows projections (9) with side surfaces (9a) with the same angle of inclination on the front and back (angle about 20 °),
• b) shows projections (9) with side surfaces (9a and 9b) of different angles of inclination (angle 20 ° / 45 °) on the front and rear, whereby the coupling receives a softer characteristic in one direction of rotation and a harder characteristic in the other,
• c) shows a profile as in a), but with rolling elements (25) between the rings, which are held in a cage (27) by axes (26). This reduces the friction between the teeth,
• d) shows in the upper rim a profile with side surfaces (9a) of 20 °, which increase more towards the tip (to 45 °), (9c) which results in a progressive characteristic of the coupling with increasing load. The rolling elements (25) are held in troughs in the lower ring. There is also the possibility, in the embodiment according to c), to provide the side surfaces (9a) with serrations on which the rolling elements, which are also provided with serrations, can roll.

In Fig. 5 denotes - as in Fig. 1 - (1) the primary part, (14) the clutch disc and (15) the ring-shaped support disc resting thereon, which covers the spring elements (8) which rest on bolts (10 ) are led inside. The support disc (15) is provided on the inside and in an analogous manner also on the outside with radial seals (18), by means of which it is sealed off from the housing or the primary part (1). It divides the clutch interior into the right chamber (41), which contains the spring elements (8) and into the left chamber (42), in which the clutch disc (14) with the projections (9) is arranged.

In this arrangement, the damping fluid flows via the toothing (6) and the toothing on the coupling part (14) (not designated) from the right into the left chamber, the toothing acting as a throttle.

5, this flow path is interrupted by an axially acting seal (43) and the support plate (15) and the clutch plate (14) are provided with holes (44 and 45) at the locations of the bolts (10) , through which the damping fluid can now flow. Pipe-like control parts (46) are arranged in the bores (45) of the support disk and carry a radial seal (47) at the outer end, which slides in the cylindrical recesses (48) of the bolts (10). Perpendicular to the pin axis are offset in the direction of the openings, radial throttle openings (49) are arranged on vertical planes and lead into the interior of the chamber (41). The throttle openings (49) are each connected to channels (50) leading to the outside of the coupling, at the ends of which there are regulating screws (51) (only one shown), through which the flow through the openings and thus the damping of the coupling are regulated can be. Similar to FIG. 1, the throttle openings (49) are closed one after the other during a stroke movement of the coupling part or the support disk by the radial seal (47) of the control parts (46), their cross section also being able to be changed by means of regulating screws (51).

6, 7 and 8 designate (1) the primary part and (14) again the clutch disc, which is connected to the primary part (1) in a rotationally fixed and axially displaceable manner by its toothing (6). The clutch disc (14) is also radially sealed from the housing by a seal. In the chamber (31) to the left of the dome part, the spring elements (8) are arranged, which are guided inside by the bolts (10). Arranged in the chamber to the right of the clutch disc (14) are the drivers (not shown in FIG. 6) in the form of projections (9) which engage corresponding elements on the secondary part (5).

During the lifting movement of the clutch disc (14), damping fluid is pressed out of the chamber (31) into the right chamber through the toothing (6). When the torque decreases, it flows back again. 6, a tubular control part (33) is arranged on the clutch disc (14), which carries a radial seal (34) at the outer end. This seal slides during the working stroke on the cylindrical hub surface (35) of the primary part (1). At the end of the hub surface, a plurality of radial throttle openings (36) are arranged on the circumference on a plane perpendicular to the axis, which start from the axially directed channels (37) leading to the outside, the throttle openings being able to be changed from the outside by means of regulating screws (38) . It is thus possible to influence the flow of the damping fluid over the entire torque curve without dismantling the clutch.

In Fig. 7, in contrast to Fig. 6, first a conically increasing surface (35a) and then a cylindrical hub surface (35) is arranged, which again has throttle openings (36) at the end. In this case, there is first a free flow through the space between the seal (34) and the conical surface (35a). Later, the flow becomes smaller and then completely closed, whereupon only, as in FIG. 6, the flow through the channels (37) and the throttle openings (36) takes place, which can be influenced by regulating screws (38). With this regulation e.g. a damping characteristic can be achieved that is only kinked in the upper part.

In Fig. 8, a pair of seals (39, 40) is provided regardless of the aforementioned throttling method to the right of the clutch disc in the end position, which is closed when the clutch is in the zero position. It has the purpose of briefly interrupting the flow through the toothing when the torque is reversed (zero crossing), which is advantageous in the case of a specific type of design of the projections (9).

9 and 10, the primary part, as in FIG. 1, is denoted by (1), the reference number (5) denotes the secondary part and (14) the clutch disc, which is rotatably and axially displaceable via rolling elements (52) the primary part (1) is connected. On the side wall of the secondary part (5) and the side of the clutch disc (14) facing it, rings of axially extending projections (9) are arranged, between which there are rolling elements (25) which are guided in the cage (27). The rolling elements (52) are also held in a cage (53) which is axially fixed to the outer cage (27) by means of bolts (54) and is relatively displaceably connected tangentially via longitudinal slots (55).

When a torque is introduced into the primary part (1), the clutch disc (14) is carried along and axially displaced by the rolling elements (25), which lie between the projections (9), pressure exerted on the clutch disc (14) by the axial component Spring elements (8) is exercised. The clutch disc (14) moves axially under the influence of external forces until an equilibrium has been established between these and the spring forces. The cages (27 and 53) with the rolling elements (25) and the rolling elements (52) cover half the distance that the. Clutch disc (14) executes. The different tangential path of the two cages is compensated for by longitudinal slots (55) on the cage (53).

Claims (24)

1. A torsionally resilient, vibration-damping shaft coupling with liquid damping, the torque transmission of which, from a primary member (1) to a secondary member (5), is effected via a cou--piing member which is disposed between these and which is held against rotation but is axially displaceable by means of projections (9) extending axially and arranged in a ring on a surface perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation and of recesses having lateral faces inclined towards one another in the circumferential direction in the manner of a crown gear, which coupling member acts on sets of spring elements (8), particularly cup springs, which are arranged axially or coaxially and are supported on the secondary member, characterised in that the spring elements (8) are guided on pins (10) at the inside and that disposed between the clutch disc (14, 20, 21) and the spring elements (8) is a supporting disc (15) which covers all the spring elements radially and which is held against rotation in relation to the pins (10) of the spring elements by means of a pin (16).

2. A shaft coupling according to Claim 1, characterised in that the supporting disc (15) is constructed in the form of a thrust bearing.

3. A shaft coupling according to Claims 1 and 2, characterised in that the supporting disc (15) is provided at the outer circumference and possibly also at the inner circumference, with seals (12,18), and divides the housing into two chambers (31, 32; 41, 42) a throttle opening (30) being provided between the chambers in the vicinity of the axis of rotation.

4. A shaft coupling according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, characterised in that two concentric clutch discs (20, 21) are provided which can be turned in relation to one another and which are provided, at their adjacent sides, with the interengaging projections and recesses (9) arranged in a ring, the one disc (20) being connected at the inside, by teeth (6), to the primary member (1) for rotation therewith but not in relation thereto and for axial displacement, and the other disc (21) being connected at the outside, by teeth (22), to the secondary member (5) for rotation therewith but not in relation thereto and for axial displacement, and sets of spring elements (8) being disposed at both sides of the pair of discs.

5. A shaft coupling according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the projections (9) arranged in a ring are arranged substantially in the middle between the outer and the inner diameters of the clutch discs (14, 20, 21).

6. A shaft coupling according to Claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the lateral faces (9a) of the projections (9) arranged in a ring have an inclination of about 20° to 45°.

7. A shaft coupling according to Claims 1 to 6, characterised in that the inclination of the lateral faces (9a, 9b) of the front and back of the projections (9) is different.

8. A shaft coupling according to Claims 1 to 7, characterised in that the inclination of the lateral faces (9a, 9c) changes during its course, particularly that it becomes greater.

9. A shaft coupling according to any one of Claims 1 to 8, characterised in that rolling bodies (25) are disposed between the lateral faces (9a) of the projections (9).

10. A shaft coupling according to Claim 9, characterised in that the rolling bodies (25) are guided in a cage (27).

11. A shaft coupling according to any one of Claims 1 to 10, characterised in that the clutch discs (14, 20, 21) or the supporting discs (15) are provided with stops (11) to limit the spring excursion.

12. A shaft coupling according to any one of Claims 1 to 11, characterised in that the tension of the spring elements (8) acting axially is adjustable from the outside via adjusting screws.

13. A shaft coupling according to Claim 12, characterised in that the tension of the spring elements (8) is adjusted so that the projections (9) of the clutch discs (14, 20, 21) come out of engagement in the event of excessive torque.

14. A shaft coupling accoupling to any one of Claims 1 to 13, characterised in that the primary member (1) and the secondary member (5) are each provided with an opening (23, 24) for the supply or offtake of damping oil.

15. A shaft coupling according to any one of Claims 1 to 14, characterised in that the primary member (1), in which the driving clutch disc (14, 20) engages, is constructed in the form- of a double-jointed coupling which engages in a hub (19) of the driving or driven machine.

16. A shaft coupling according to Claim 3, characterised in that disposed at the flow passage between the chambers (31, 41, 42) is a tubular control member (33, 46) which is provided with a radial seal (34, 47) at the outer end and which cooperates with corresponding, axially directed channels (37) which are situated in the primary or secondary member (1, 5) and are provided with a plurality of throttle openings (36, 49) which are situated one behind the other in various planes and lead into the interior of the coupling and which are brushed over by the radial seal during the working stroke.

17. A shaft coupling according to Claim 16, characterised in that at least one throttle opening (36, 49) can be varied in its cross-section by means of a regulator (38, 51) from the face of the coupling.

18. A shaft coupling according to Claims 16 and 17, characterised in that the regulator (38, 51) is constructed in the form of a pressure-responsive valve which is adjustable from the outside. 19. A shaft coupling according to Claim 16, characterised in that the radial seal (34, 47) is effective only in parts of the working stroke.

20. A shaft coupling according to Claim 3, characterised in that the coupling teeth (6) serve as a flow passage between the chambers and the control member (33) is disposed on the clutch disc (14).

21. A shaft coupling according to Claim 16, characterised in that bores (44, 45) in the supporting disc (15) and in the adjacent clutch disc (14) are provided as a flow passage between the chambers (42, 41), which bores are situated in the region of the pins (10), while a control member (46) is disposed at each bore (44) of the supporting disc (15).

22. A shaft coupling according to Claim 21, characterised in that disposed on the side of the clutch disc (14) remote from the control member (46) is an axial seal (39) which, in the neutral position of the coupling member, bears against an axial seal (40) disposed on the primary member (1).

23. A shaft coupling according to Claim 10, characterised in that the clutch disc (14) is mounted on the primary member (1) via a rolling-ball connection (52, 53).

24. A shaft coupling according to Claim 23, characterised in that the cage (27) of the rolling bodies is rigidly connected, in the axial direction, via pins (54), to a cage (53) which belongs to the rolling-ball connection and that the relative tangential movement between the cages (27, 53) is compensated by elongated slots (55) in the cage (53).

Images